Medvedev rages against ‘stagnant’ Russia

Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev
has admitted that Russia is a one-party state with no meaningful opposition in an apparent attempt to ­distance himself from Prime ­Minister
Vladimir Putin
.

In a video blog on the Kremlin’s website, Mr Medvedev complained that the country’s political system showed dangerous signs of stagnation, a phrase that Russians use to evoke the moribund period when Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was in power in the 1970s.

“At a certain point, our political life started showing signs of stagnation," Mr Medvedev, who assumed the presidency in 2008, said. “This stagnation is equally damaging to both the ruling party and opposition forces." Although he claimed in the same breath to have pushed through a raft of minor improvements in the past two years, his description of Russia’s political landscape was damning.

“If the opposition does not have the slightest chance of winning in a fair fight, it degrades and becomes a marginal force," he said. “But if the ruling party has no chance of losing anywhere or ever it simply ‘bronzes over’ and eventually also degrades like any organism that does not move."

Mr Medvedev went on to say that the ruling United Russia party, which is led by Mr Putin, should not be packed with “dummies and performers" or serve as a mere appendix to the executive branch of government.

His outburst comes before a major speech he is expected to deliver next week that will be scrutinised for clues as to whether he intends to run for a second presidential term in 2012.

Most Russians still regard Mr Putin as the country’s pre-eminent politician and see Mr Medvedev as a loyal understudy. Some analysts said the outburst, which amounted to a denunciation of Mr Putin’s political legacy, meant Mr Medvedev wanted to stay on as President.